KR102633264B1 - PIN-LIFTER TEST BOARD - Google Patents

Abstract

Various embodiments include devices for providing in-situ, non-intrusive verification of substrate pin-lifters while the substrate is in a substrate processing position on a process tool. The disclosed subject matter can also verify any unexpected substrate movement before or while the substrate is removed from the process tool. In an exemplary embodiment, a pin-lifter test board includes multiple motion sensors and at least one force sensor. Motion sensors include at least one type of sensor selected from sensor types including inclinometers and accelerometers. A memory device on the pin-lifter test board records data received from the motion sensors. Instead of or in addition to the memory device, a wireless communication device transmits data received from the motion sensors to a remote receiver. Other devices and systems are disclosed.

Description

PIN-LIFTER TEST BOARD

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to equipment used in semiconductor and related industries. More specifically, the disclosed subject matter includes in-situ, non-intrusive verification of substrate pin-lifters, as well as dynamic alignment of substrates while the substrate is in a substrate processing position on a process tool. Regarding the potential effects of malfunctioning substrate pin-lifters and associated substrate-holding devices. Accordingly, the disclosed subject matter can verify the operations of the substrate pin-lifters and also verify any unexpected substrate movement while the substrate is being removed from the process tool.

Typically, various pieces of semiconductor process equipment (e.g., deposition tools or etching tools) lift and lower semiconductor substrates (e.g., silicon wafers) onto an electrostatic chuck (ESC). Three pressure-actuated pin-lifters are used to remove semiconductor substrates from an electrostatic chuck (ESC). ESCs are known to those skilled in the art and are commonly used, for example, in plasma-based and vacuum-based semiconductor processing. ESCs are used to mount and electrostatically "clamp" substrates during semiconductor processing, but are also used to cool or heat substrates and provide planarization of the substrate to increase processing uniformity.

A typical substrate pin-lifter includes a number of pins (e.g., three pins typically comprising metal, sapphire, or metal tipped with sapphire), a pneumatic actuator to lift the substrate pin-lifters, and It consists of one or more position sensors to gauge the level of the substrate pin-lifters.

In or with substrate pin-lifters that are out-of-specification, such as broken or inoperable lift pins, air pressure that is too high or too low, misaligned or miscalibrated pin-position sensors, etc. All of the components involved will interfere with the handling of the board. If the board pin-lifters do not function properly, the board can be damaged, resulting in process tool downtime resulting in repairs as well as financial losses due to devices on the board.

Typically, a series of chucking and de-chucking operations includes the operations described below. The substrate is transferred into a processing module (PM) or process chamber with the end effector of the robotic arm. Typically, three substrate lift pins move upward and receive the substrate from the robot arm while the pins are in the raised or “up” position. After the robot arm is retracted from the process chamber, the substrate lift pins move to a lowered or “down” position. The pins are withdrawn just below the top surface of the ESC (eg, typically only a few tens of micrometers), leaving the substrate landing on top of the ESC, the ceramic surface. The ESC begins "chucking" the substrate by applying a high voltage to electrodes embedded inside the ceramic surface of the ESC (for conductor coulomb ESCs, both positive and negative voltages are applied). Once the process is complete, the high voltage applied to the ESC is reset to zero to remove all charges. The pins rise to the “up” position to lift the substrate, and the robotic arm removes the substrate from the process chamber.

In addition to substrate pin-lifters not functioning properly, charges are frequently trapped at or near the ESC surface, creating residual chucking forces between the substrate and the ESC. When the pins are raised, during a substrate dechucking operation, residual chucking forces may cause unwanted substrate movement such as bending, tilting, jumping, lateral sliding, and other movements that are potentially detrimental to semiconductor processing operations. In a worst-case scenario, the board may break during separation from the ESC.

Currently, substrate pin-lifters are manually checked when the process chamber (or process module) is opened. After the process chamber is closed and sealed, the substrate pin-lifters are monitored only through a pin sensor on one or more substrate pin-lifters. The pin sensor can only monitor whether a particular substrate pin-lifter among the substrate pin-lifters is raised (up position) or lowered (down position). The pin sensor cannot determine whether one or more of the substrate pin-lifters have failed, whether the air pressure is correct, or any of a number of other scenarios in which a failure has occurred (or is about to occur). For example, if one of the board pin-lifters breaks, the pin sensor may sense that the broken pin is in the correct position by sensing the position of the piston used to actuate the pin. However, a broken pin may cause the substrate to be in an incorrect (eg, lower on one side) position. Accordingly, there is a risk that the substrate will be damaged (eg, cannot be retracted by or by the robot's end effector). In either case, this can result in significant financial losses, especially on fully-populated boards that have nearly completed all front-end-of-line (FEOL) processes.

When the air pressure is incorrect, especially when it is too high, the substrate may also suffer from rough handling (e.g., potentially causing dynamic alignment (DA) problems of the substrate, as discussed below with respect to FIGS. 1A-1C . high acceleration forces). Overall, there is currently no in-situ and automatic direct check of the position of the substrate.

Accordingly, the disclosed subject matter provides in situ, non-intrusive verification of substrate pin-lifters while the substrate is in a substrate processing position on a process tool (e.g., a substrate processing system). The disclosed subject matter can also verify any unexpected substrate movement before or while the substrate is removed from the process tool.

The information set forth in this section is provided to suggest to those skilled in the art a context for the subject matter disclosed below, and should not be considered admitted prior art.

1A-1C illustrate (1) charge remaining on at least one of the substrate or the ESC during a dechucking operation; or (2) examples of chucking and dechucking operations and resulting substrate lateral movement associated with an electrostatic chuck (ESC) due to at least one of one or more defective pin-lifters used to remove the substrate from the ESC. It shows.
Figure 2A shows a top view of one type of substrate - a silicon wafer.
FIG. 2B shows an example of sensors disposed on the front side of a pin-lifter test board (having the same or similar dimensions as the silicon wafer of FIG. 2A), according to various embodiments disclosed herein.
FIG. 2C shows an example of sensors disposed on the backside of a pin-lifter test board (having the same or similar dimensions as the silicon wafer of FIG. 2A), according to various embodiments disclosed herein.
3 illustrates an example of a method for receiving data from the pin-lifter test board of FIGS. 2B and 2C disposed in a processing chamber of a processing tool in accordance with various embodiments disclosed herein.

The disclosed subject matter will now be described in detail with reference to several general and specific embodiments as illustrated in various of the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed subject matter. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the disclosed subject matter may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well-known process steps or structures have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the disclosed subject matter.

In various embodiments, a pin-lifter test board is a board with a number of sensors, described in detail below, to monitor various aspects of the substrate pin-lifters as well as movement of the substrate itself. The pin-lifter test board has an overall shape that is substantially similar or identical to, for example, a typical board used to produce semiconductor devices. This typical substrate may, in certain embodiments, be a 300 mm or 450 mm semiconductor (eg, silicon) wafer. A pin-lifter test board can have the same tracking (eg, laser marking and barcodes) and positioning (eg, notch on a 300 mm wafer) features as a regular board. The pin-lifter test board is placed in place (on the board pin-lifters) just like a regular board by the end effector of the robot arm of a standard transfer robot.

The disclosed subject matter thus provides for direct measurements and positioning of the substrate that will occur during actual substrate processing operations. Accordingly, the disclosed subject matter is an in-situ, non-intrusive automated health-check of substrate pin-lifters to prevent substrate loss, or to reduce or minimize process tool downtime. health-checking). Accordingly, the disclosed subject matter provides in situ, non-intrusive verification of substrate pin-lifters while the substrate is in a substrate processing position on a process tool. The disclosed subject matter can also verify any unexpected substrate movement while the substrate is being removed from the process tool.

In various embodiments, the pin-lifter test board disclosed herein may include various types of motion sensors, force sensors, and data acquisition systems, for example. As described in more detail below, each of these components is mounted on a pin-lifter test board.

As an example of one function of motion sensors on a pin-lifter test board, Figures 1A-1C show examples of possible board movement during a de-chuck operation. This board movement can be monitored and recorded using various embodiments of the disclosed pin-lifter test board. For example, referring now to FIGS. 1A-1C , (1) charge remaining on at least one of the substrate or the ESC during a de-chucking operation; or (2) chucking and dechucking operations associated with an electrostatic chuck (ESC) and resulting substrate due to at least one of one or more defective pin-lifters used to remove the substrate from the ESC. Examples of lateral movements are shown.

Referring to the chucking operation of FIG. 1A, a silicon wafer 101 (or a pin-lifter test board described below) is placed on an electrostatic chuck (ESC) 103. The ESC 103 has at least one electrode 105 for applying a voltage to the ESC 103, and a plurality of substrate pin-lifters (pins) shown in a lowered position 111A. In the lowered position 111A, the fins are typically several tens of micrometers below the top surface of the ESC 103. However, the exact distance below the top surface does not affect the performance or ability of the disclosed subject matter to provide that the silicon wafer 101 is in contact or near contact with the top surface of the ESC 103 during the chucking operation. Those skilled in the art will recognize, based on reading and understanding the disclosure provided herein, that the disclosed subject matter may be equally applicable to any type of substrate used in the semiconductor and related industries. Accordingly, the substrate need not be limited to only silicon wafers. However, the term “silicon wafer” will be used herein for clarity only to describe various aspects of the disclosed subject matter.

A high voltage is applied to the electrode 105, which in turn transmits the high voltage to the ESC 103. The applied high voltage creates opposite sign charges between the silicon wafer 101 and the ESC 103. In this example, a negative charge 109 is formed on the ESC 103, and a positive charge 107 is formed on the surface of the silicon wafer 101 proximate to the ESC 103 (the wafer charges are primarily on the ESC 103). redistributed to the lowermost part of the adjacent silicon wafer 101). As a result, the high voltage applied from the electrode 105 creates an electrostatic force that holds the silicon wafer 101 on the ESC 103.

In a typical process flow, after the silicon wafer 101 is chucked to the ESC 103 by electrostatic forces, helium gas is released (e.g. For example, it is delivered to the backside of the silicon wafer 101 (i.e., the side of the wafer close to the ESC 103) to increase thermal conductivity for heating and cooling of the silicon wafer 101. As understood by those skilled in the art and described in more detail below, the pin-lifter test board can also be configured to recognize the pressure and flow of helium gas. After the process recipe is completed, the helium gas flow is stopped and the helium is then pumped out (exhausted). The high voltage of electrode 105 is ideally reset to zero to remove all charges.

Referring now to Figure 1B, after the helium is evacuated and the high voltage on electrode 105 is reset to 0 V, the pins move from the lowered position 111A to the raised position 111B. In the raised position 111B, the pins lift the silicon wafer 101 to a fixed “up” position. In the up position, the robotic arm can move back into the process chamber to pick up and remove the silicon wafer 101.

However, as noted in FIG. 1B, if there are still charges remaining on portions of the silicon wafer 101 or the ESC 103, the silicon wafer 101 may be capable of, for example, charge trapping, and movement of charges. The pins may not be properly lifted onto the ESC 103 when in the raised position 111B due to residual forces, including: As a result, due to attractive forces, the silicon wafer 101 may move laterally and/or rotationally with reference to the ESC 103, as shown in FIG. 1C. Lateral and/or rotational shifts cause Dynamic-Alignment (DA) offsets 113. Overall, dynamic alignment measures the position of the silicon wafer 101 as it moves into or out of the process chamber. DA offset 113 is the difference between the silicon wafer 101 before the process begins and after the process is completed (i.e., DA before the process - DA after the process). DA offset 113 monitors the quality of wafer dechucking.

As briefly discussed above, at ESC operating temperatures, which may be hundreds of degrees Celsius, charge can become trapped in the top surface of the ESC 103 during wafer chucking operations. Trapped charges are also referred to as residual charges. Additionally, various emissions from the silicon wafer 101 may also be a factor in residual forces occurring between the silicon wafer 101 and the ESC 103. These residual forces can cause unwanted wafer movements such as bending, tilting, jumping, sliding, or even breakage of the wafer.

A specific dechucking failure-root-cause analysis can be complex depending on the process, wafer type, ESC ceramic material, ceramic temperature, process time, bias voltage, process chemicals, and other factors. For example, as known to those skilled in the art, there are two main types of ESCs used in the semiconductor and related industries—Coulomb-type chucks and Johnsen-Rahbek type chucks. One important difference between the two chuck types relates to dechucking operations. In a Coulomb-type chuck, once the high voltage on electrode 105 is reset to 0 V, a large and almost instantaneous short-circuit current flows, but decays exponentially with a short time constant (on the order of milliseconds). However, in Johnsen-Rahbek type chucks, small, non-exponentially decaying currents persist for much longer times (on the order of seconds), thus resulting in much longer dechucking times due to the time required for the residual charge to dissipate. It can cause

Figure 2A shows a top view of one type of substrate—a silicon wafer 200. Silicon wafer 200 may be the same or similar to silicon wafer 101 described as part of the ESC dechucking process above. In this particular case, silicon wafer 200 may be considered to be a 300 ‡o wafer. Silicon wafer 200 is shown including a notch 203. In certain exemplary embodiments, both the silicon wafer 200 and the notch 203 are configured according to the International Wafer Standard SEMI M1-1107, SPECIFICATIONS FOR POLISHED SINGLE CRYSTAL SILICON WAFERS (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI ^TM ) at www.semi.org). (available from) is formed according to.

Silicon wafer 200 also shows an example embodiment of the relative positions of three substrate pin-lifters in contact with silicon wafer 200 on the bottom side of the wafer. In this exemplary embodiment, three substrate pin-lifters are each positioned 120° from each other at a distance “r” from the exact center portion of the silicon wafer 200. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that more than four substrate pin-lifters may be used in positions other than those shown in FIG. 2A.

FIG. 2B shows an example of sensors disposed on the front side of a pin-lifter test board 210 according to various embodiments disclosed herein. In this embodiment, pin-lifter test substrate 210 has dimensions that are the same or similar to the silicon wafer of Figure 2A. For example, according to SEMITM standard specifications, a 300 mm silicon wafer has a diameter of 300 mm + 0.2 mm, a thickness of 775 + 25 μm, and specific dimensions for the wafer notch (see SEMI M1-1107).

Although the SEMI standard's maximum thickness for a 300 mm silicon wafer is 800 μm, many process chambers can accommodate substrates up to at least 2 mm thick while some process chambers allow substrate thicknesses up to 5 mm. Accordingly, in various embodiments described herein, the thickness of the pin-lifter test board can be at least 2 mm or even up to 5 mm depending on the particular process chamber in which the pin-lifter test board is designed. Additionally, a standard 300 mm wafer has a mass of approximately 90 g (depending on the exact diameter and thickness of the silicon wafer). If the pin-lifter test substrate is substantially heavier than a standard silicon wafer (for this example, 90 g of a 300 mm wafer), a mass of the pin-lifter test substrate substantially greater than about 90 g will interfere with the behavior of the substrate pin-lifters. Or you can change it. Accordingly, the mass of the pin-lifter test substrate may be selected to be close to the mass of a standard substrate (eg, 90 g of a 300 mm silicon wafer). However, as is known to those skilled in the art, differences in mass are acceptable and the substrate pin-lifters can be calibrated for the added mass, so that the mass of the pin-lifter test substrate can be calibrated for the particular tool under test.

However, upon reading and understanding the disclosure provided herein, the skilled artisan will realize that the pin-lifter test board 210 of FIG. 2B may be formed to follow any shape that is the same or similar to the actual boards used in the manufacturing facility. will recognize that For example, the pin-lifter test board 210 of FIG. 2B includes a 200 mm wafer, a 450 mm wafer, a 150 mm x 6.35 mm (approximately 6 inches x 0.25 inches) photomask (with or without a pellicle), ( It may take the form of a flat panel display (of various sizes) or any other type of substrate known in the art.

The pin-lifter test substrate 210 of FIG. 2B may be made of, for example, stainless steel, aluminum and their alloys, various types of ceramics (e.g., aluminum oxide, Al ₂ O ₃ ), or substantially as described herein. It may be formed from a variety of materials, including any other type of material that can be formed according to the physical properties described in. In certain example embodiments, the pin-lifter test substrate of FIG. 2B may be a 300 mm silicon wafer containing at least some of the various sensors described below. This wafer containing at least some of the sensors may be considered an instrumented wafer.

In one embodiment, the pin-lifter test board 210 includes a number of different types of sensors formed on the top surface 201 of the pin-lifter test board 210. For example, pin-lifter test board 210 can be used to test various types of motion sensors 205A, 205B, 205C, memory device 207, wireless communication device 209, power-management device 211, and power It is shown as comprising a supply section (213).

In one embodiment, motion sensors 205A, 205B, 205C are disposed at or near the location of the substrate pin-lifters. Motion sensors 205A, 205B, 205C may be disposed on the top surface 201 and/or bottom surface 221 of the pin-lifter test board 210. In this particular embodiment, there are three motion sensors 205A, 205B, 205C, as there are typically three substrate pin-lifters used with semiconductor wafers. However, there may be more than four substrate pin-lifters, for example when used with a flat panel display that uses more than four substrate pin-lifters.

At least one of the motion sensors 205A, 205B, 205C may include one or more types of sensors including inclinometers and accelerometers. As known to the skilled artisan, the inclinometer determines whether the pin-lifter test board 210 is horizontal, the slope or tilt of the pin-lifter test board 210, or the pin-lifter test board (210). 210) can be used to determine the local drop (e.g., bow or warp). An accelerometer may be used to determine acceleration (e.g., linear and/or angular) of the pin-lifter test board 210. For example, an accelerometer can be used to determine how quickly the pin-lifter test board 210 is applied onto the substrate pin-lifters, or how quickly the pin-lifter test board 210 is applied to the pin-lifter test board (210) due to attraction forces from the ESC. 210) can be used to determine how quickly to release from the substrate pin-lifters when they are expected to fail release. For example, while the substrate pin-lifters are moving to a raised wafer position ("up" position) or lowered position ("down" position), the maximum acceleration of the lift pins is 1 "G" (9.8 m/sec²). It can be as big as This large acceleration can cause a DA offset as described above with reference to FIGS. 1A-1C.

An accelerometer can also be used to measure vibrations on the pin-lifter test board 210. In certain example embodiments, at least one of the motion sensors 205A, 205B, 205C includes a piezoelectric-actuated diaphragm (e.g., for testing dechucking movements as described above with reference to FIGS. 1A-1C). MEMS-based force sensors (or other types of force sensors known in the art, such as, for example, strain gauges) to check the force applied by the electrostatic chuck. ) may also be included.

In various embodiments, memory device 207 may include a non-volatile memory device (eg, flash memory, phase change memory, etc.). In other embodiments, memory device 207 may be a volatile memory device and may be powered by power supply 213.

Wireless communication devices 209 may be of various types known in the art, including, for example, radio frequency transcivers, ^Bluetooth® transceivers, infrared (IR) and other types of optical-communication transceivers, etc. It may also include wireless communication devices. As those skilled in the art will appreciate upon reading and understanding the disclosure provided herein, transceivers may have only a transmit function. In this case, wireless communication device 209 may be considered only a transmitter.

In certain embodiments, pin-lifter test board 210 may have either a wireless communication device 209 or a memory device 207, but not both. In other embodiments, pin-lifter test board 210 may include both a wireless communication device 209 and a memory device 207. As described in more detail below, in certain applications of the pin-lifter test board 210, the wireless communication device 209 may be used when the pin-lifter test board 210 is placed within the process chamber and the process chamber access door is closed. It may become non-functional if it is then removed from the robot (due to the electromagnetic shielding effect of a completely closed process chamber). In this case, memory device 207 is used to record all available data from pin-lifter test board 210 for later processing.

Power-management device 211 may include, for example, various types of integrated circuit (IC) power-management devices. Power-management device 211 includes DC-DC conversion circuits (e.g., for supplying various bias voltages to various devices mounted on pin-lifter test board 210), power supply 213 battery charging functions for, voltage-scaling functions (including, for example, charge pumps for the memory device 207), and other functions known in the art.

The power supply 213 may be configured to support various components (e.g., a wireless communication device 209, a memory device 207 for maintaining data if necessary (e.g., for volatile memory devices), a memory device 207 ) may include various types of batteries or related energy storage technologies to deliver power to sense amplifiers (sense amps) for reading and writing from, etc.).

Referring now to FIG. 2C, an example of sensors formed on the bottom surface 221 of a pin-lifter test board 220 is shown, in accordance with various embodiments disclosed herein. Pin-lifter test board 220 is shown to include force sensors 223A, 223B, 223C as well as a first additional sensor 225A and a second additional sensor 225B. As described below, in one embodiment, first additional sensor 225A and second additional sensor 225B may include the same type of sensor. In other embodiments, first additional sensor 225A and second additional sensor 225B may include different types of sensors.

In one embodiment, force sensors 223A, 223B, 223C are disposed at or near the location of the substrate pin-lifters. Force sensors 223A, 223B, 223C may be disposed on the top surface 201 and/or bottom surface 221 of the pin-lifter test board 210, 220. In this particular embodiment, there are three force sensors 223A, 223B, 223C, as there are typically three substrate pin-lifters used with semiconductor wafers. However, there may be more than four substrate pin-lifters, for example when used with a flat panel display. As a result, there may be more than four force sensors.

At least one of force sensors 223A, 223B, 223C may include strain gauges, such as the MEMS-based strain gauge described above with reference to FIG. 2B (or other types of strain gauges known in the art).

First additional sensor 225A and second additional sensor 225B may include one or more sensors including, for example, a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, and a flow sensor. A temperature sensor can be used to check temperature uniformity at various locations on the pin-lifter test board 220. The pressure sensor may include various types of digital pressure transducers, including, for example, pressure-transducer arrays, and piezometers, known in the art, once attached to the ESC, for example. Once this is done, the helium pressure applied on the back side of the substrate can be monitored. Similarly, flow sensors may include, for example, laminar flow meters or hot-wire anemometers, and may be used to monitor gas flow on the back or front side of the pin-lifter test board 210, 220.

Although only two additional sensors are shown, the skilled artisan will understand that any number of additional sensors may be included. For example, each temperature sensor may be a plurality of thermocouples or Resistance-Temperature Detectors (RTDs, including thin-film RTDs) embedded in the bottom surface 221 of the pin-lifter test board 220. It may also include .

In various embodiments, and not explicitly shown but will be readily understood by those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the disclosure provided herein, the pin-lifter test boards 210, 220 of FIGS. 2A and 2B may also be referred to as pin-lifter test boards. It may also include a microprocessor to provide a number of control functions to each of the sensors and other devices mounted on 210, 220. For example, a microprocessor may be used to encode and decode memory, check parity of memory, manage data and communications, convert volume-flow rates to mass-flow rates, and provide other functions known to those skilled in the art. there is.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an example of a method 300 for receiving data from the pin-lifter test board of FIGS. 2B and 2C disposed within the process chamber of a processing tool in accordance with various embodiments disclosed herein is shown. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, any or all method steps described herein may be executed, for example, by a controller of a process tool.

At operation 301, the pin-lifter test substrate is loaded into the process chamber by the robot's end effector. The pin-lifter test board may be loaded into the process chamber (or process module) before or after the actual boat or FOUP of product boards, for example. A pin-lifter test board may be used to check the condition of a process tool periodically (e.g., once per shift, once per week, etc., as part of a normal preventive maintenance schedule) as described above. .

In this particular embodiment, once the end effector places the pin-lifter test substrate on a substrate-holding device (e.g., ESC) within the process chamber, the robotic arm remains in the process chamber. Therefore, the robot does not retract.

At operation 303, the substrate pin-lifters move up (to a raised, pin-up position) and down (to a lowered, pin-down position) for a predetermined number of cycles per predetermined pattern (via the user interface of the process tool). instructed to move to the location. For example, a predetermined pattern may move each of the pins one by one, sequentially, and then in groups of 2 or 3 pins.

At operation 305, various sensors, such as motion sensors and force sensors, on the pin-lifter test board record and/or record motion data (e.g., up/down acceleration, Data is transmitted to a remote receiver via a wireless communication device 209 (see FIG. 2) including force data (tilt angles, etc.). The remote receiver may be located, for example, on a robot arm or at another location outside the process chamber.

At operation 307, after all substrate pin-lifters are in the down or lowered position, the robot withdraws the pin-lifter test substrate and moves the pin-lifter test substrate out of the process chamber. Note that in this embodiment, the robot stays within the process chamber during testing. Therefore, the robot's end effector is always below the pin-lifter test board. As a result, there is no risk of failure to remove the pin-lifter test substrate from the process chamber, if, for example, one or more of the substrate pin-lifters breaks. Data may be retrieved from the pin-lifter test board (e.g., in memory device 207) and processed to identify problems using the board pin-lifters and associated components (e.g., ESC). .

For example, method 300 can be used to identify at least the following problems:

Whether the pin-lifter test board exhibits any DA issues based on lateral and/or rotational movement of the pin-lifter test board when placed on or removed from the ESC;

Whether one or more board pin-lifters are broken;

Whether the air hose coupled to the pin-lifter may be damaged;

There is no contact force from the pin-lifter test board to the board holder (eg, ESC);

whether the air pressure feeding the substrate pin-lifters is too high (thereby increasing acceleration beyond specifications for the expected upper range, and possibly also increasing vibration);

If the acceleration is outside the specifications for the expected lower range, whether the air pressure is too low;

whether the substrate pin-lifters may not planarize if the tilt angles are not within specifications or if the angles from different locations vary beyond specifications;

Whether the substrate pin-lifters do not all accelerate similarly based on a determination that the accelerations from different positions vary too much (e.g., according to a predetermined tolerance value or specification quantifier); and/or

Compared to a movement sequence reconstructed based on data retrieved from (and/or transmitted by) the pin-lifter test board motion data, the data from the position sensor may be compared to a predetermined pattern, e.g., as applied in operation 303. Whether the position sensors mounted on one or more of the substrate pin-lifters are not functioning properly based on a determination that they do not match the pin cycling of the pins.

Alternative embodiments to the method of FIG. 3 may, for example, instead of programming the robot to remain within the process chamber during testing, a generic wafer-handling robot program may be used for the convenience of users. Accordingly, in this embodiment the robot is withdrawn from the process chamber during testing using the pin-lifter test board of FIGS. 2A and 2B. However, withdrawing the robot may pose the risk of not being able to remove the pin-lifter test board from the process chamber, for example, if one or more of the pin-lifter test boards are not functioning properly. Also in this embodiment, offline data retrieval and processing (from memory device 207 in FIG. 2B) or relying on wireless data to be transmitted to a wireless receiver (e.g., mounted on the robot while still within the process chamber) Alternatively, if it were possible to overcome the Faraday-cage effect (e.g., electromagnetic shielding) of the process chamber with the access door to the process chamber being closed while the pin-lifter test board is inside the process chamber, Real-time wireless data streams may be possible.

In various embodiments, the method 300 of FIG. 3 also allows the end of the robot to perform a “health test” of the substrate pin-lifters to verify that there is little risk of failure to remove the pin-lifter test substrate. This may include programming the effector to initially remain within the process chamber. After verifying the good health of the substrate pin-lifters, this embodiment of method 300 includes programming the robot to withdraw from the process chamber, leaving the pin-lifter test substrate within the process chamber, and applying a vacuum to the process chamber. steps, and performing additional tests. Additional testing may include, for example, a helium-flow test, a helium-pressure test, or other tests that require vacuum conditions within the process chamber, or conditions that will not cause the robot to remain within the process chamber.

Overall, the disclosed subject matter included herein describes or generally relates to the operations of “tools” in a semiconductor manufacturing environment (fab). These tools include various types of deposition (including plasma-based tools such as Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD), Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), Plasma-Enhanced CVD (PECVD), etc.) and etching tools (e.g., RIE ( Reactive-Ion Etching tools), as well as various types of thermal furnaces (e.g., fast thermal annealing and oxidation), ion implantation, and other processes found in a variety of different plants and known to those skilled in the art. and measurement tools. However, the disclosed subject matter is not limited to semiconductor environments and can be used in many machine-tool environments such as robotic assembly, fabrication, and machining environments.

Upon reading and understanding the disclosure provided herein, one skilled in the art will recognize that various embodiments of the disclosed subject matter may be used with other types of substrate-holding devices, in addition to an ESC. For example, various types of cleaning, metrology, and process tools used in the semiconductor and related industries use vacuum-controlled substrate-holding devices, for example. For example, various types of substrate-holding devices adhere the substrate to the substrate-holding devices due to forces such as molecular adhesion, Van der Waal forces, electrostatic forces, and other near-field contact forces. They may have adhesive or other attachment problems. Accordingly, as described, various embodiments of the disclosed subject matter provide a pin-lifter test board that can be used to monitor various types of process tools and other substrate handling tools as described herein.

Throughout this specification, multiple examples may implement components, operations, or structures described as a single example. Although the individual acts of one or more methods are illustrated and described as separate acts, one or more of the individual acts may be performed simultaneously, and there is no requirement that the acts be performed in the order illustrated. Structures and functionality presented as separate components in example configurations may be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly, structures and functionality presented as a single component may be implemented as separate components. These and other variations, modifications, additions, and improvements are within the scope of the subject matter of this disclosure.

As used herein, the term “or” may be interpreted in an inclusive or exclusive sense. Additionally, other embodiments will be understood by those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the provided disclosure. Additionally, upon reading and understanding the disclosure provided herein, those skilled in the art will readily understand that various combinations of the techniques and examples provided herein may all be applied in various combinations.

Although various embodiments have been discussed individually, these individual embodiments are not intended to be considered independent techniques or designs. As indicated above, each of the various parts may be interrelated, and each may be used individually or in combination with other embodiments discussed herein. For example, although various embodiments of methods, operations, and processes have been described, these methods, operations, and processes may be used individually or in various combinations.

As a result, many modifications and variations may be made, as will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the disclosure provided herein. For example, in various embodiments, and referring to Figures 2A and 2B, various motion sensors, force sensors, memory device, and communication device each may be assembled directly on a pin-lifter test board. In other embodiments, each of the various motion sensors, force sensors, memory device, and communication device may be assembled or otherwise formed directly on a printed circuit board that is later mounted on a pin-lifter test board. . In still other embodiments, some of the various motion sensors, force sensors, memory devices, and communication devices may be assembled directly on the pin-lifter test board, while other components may be mounted on the pin-lifter test board at a later time. It is assembled directly on a printed circuit board.

Additionally, functionally equivalent methods and devices within the scope of the present disclosure in addition to those listed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in, or may replace, portions and features of other embodiments. Such modifications and variations are intended to be within the scope of the appended claims. Accordingly, the present disclosure is limited only by the terms of the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is also understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting.

This summary of the disclosure is provided to enable the reader to quickly ascertain the essence of the disclosure. The abstract is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the claims. Additionally, in the context of practicing the foregoing invention, it may be appreciated that various features may be grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This manner of disclosure should not be construed as limiting the claims. Accordingly, the following claims are incorporated into the detailed description for carrying out the invention herein, and each claim stands alone as an individual embodiment.

Claims (28)

a plurality of motion sensors, the motion sensors comprising at least one type of sensor selected from sensor types including inclinometers and accelerometers;
pin-lifter one or more force sensors positioned proximate to corresponding positions of a plurality of substrate pin-lifters when a test substrate is placed on a substrate-holding device;
a communication device configured to transmit data received from the plurality of motion sensors and the one or more force sensors; and
a memory device communicatively coupled to the communication device and configured to record data received from the plurality of motion sensors and the one or more force sensors;
wherein the one or more force sensors are configured to determine whether there is a force making contact from the pin-lifter test board to the substrate-holding device. According to claim 1,
The pin-lifter test board system of claim 1, wherein the pin-lifter test board has dimensions identical to or similar to a silicon wafer. According to claim 1,
The pin-lifter test substrate is formed from at least one material selected from materials including stainless steel, aluminum and alloys thereof, and various types of ceramics. According to claim 1,
The pin-lifter test board system of claim 1, wherein the inclinometers are configured to determine a slope or tilt of the pin-lifter test board. According to claim 1,
wherein the inclinometers are configured to determine local depression of the pin-lifter test board. According to claim 1,
wherein the inclinometers are configured to determine whether one or more of the plurality of substrate pin-lifters on the substrate-holding device is broken. delete According to claim 1,
wherein the accelerometers are configured to determine whether the air pressure feeding the plurality of substrate pin-lifters is too high. According to claim 1,
wherein the accelerometers are configured to determine whether the air pressure feeding the plurality of substrate pin-lifters is too low. According to claim 1,
wherein the accelerometers are configured to measure vibrations on the pin-lifter test board. According to claim 1,
wherein the communication device is a wireless communication device configured to transmit data received from the plurality of motion sensors and the one or more force sensors to a remote receiver. According to claim 11,
wherein the wireless communication device is selected from at least one type of wireless communication device including radio frequency transmitters, Bluetooth transmitters, infrared (IR) transmitters, and optical-communication transmitters. According to claim 1,
The pin-lifter test board system further comprising at least one additional sensor comprising a sensor type selected from at least a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, and a flow sensor. According to claim 13,
wherein the temperature sensor includes a plurality of temperature sensors configured to determine temperatures from various locations on the pin-lifter test board. According to claim 13,
wherein the pressure sensor is configured to determine gas pressure applied on the backside of the pin-lifter test board. According to claim 1,
wherein the plurality of motion sensors, the one or more force sensors, the memory device, and the communication device are assembled directly on the pin-lifter test board. According to claim 1,
The plurality of motion sensors, the one or more force sensors, the memory device, and the communication device are assembled on a printed circuit board, the printed circuit board being subsequently mounted on the pin-lifter test board. -Lifter test board system. a substrate-holding device having a plurality of substrate pin-lifters;
A controller communicatively coupled to the substrate-holding device,
Using a robotic end effector, load a pin-lifter test substrate onto the substrate-holding device in at least one process chamber of a substrate processing system,
A plurality of motion sensors mounted on the pin-lifter test board and a plurality of substrate pin-lifters mounted on the pin-lifter test board when the pin-lifter test board is placed on the substrate-holding device. receive data from a plurality of force sensors positioned proximate to corresponding locations of the motion sensors, the motion sensors comprising at least one type of sensor selected from sensor types including inclinometers and accelerometers, and
at least one selected from operations comprising transmitting the received data to a receiver positioned distally from the pin-lifter test board and storing the received data in a memory device mounted on the pin-lifter test board. a controller having executable instructions configured to perform operations including tangible operations;
The controller is,
maintaining the end effector of the robot within the process chamber while the pin-lifter test board receives the data;
instruct the plurality of substrate pin-lifters to move to a raised pin-up position and a lowered pin-down position for a predetermined number of cycles per predetermined pattern, and
wirelessly transmitting the data received from the plurality of substrate pin-lifters by the motion sensors to the receiver located distally from the pin-lifter test board and mounted on the pin-lifter test board. and executable instructions configured to perform operations including at least one operation selected from storing the received data to the memory device. According to claim 18,
and the act of transmitting the received data is configured to be performed wirelessly. delete According to claim 18,
The controller may further include executable instructions configured to determine whether one or more of the substrate pin-lifters is malfunctioning based on data received from a raised, pin-up position and a lowered, pin-down position. Including, a substrate processing system. According to claim 18,
The controller determines whether an air hose coupled to the substrate pin-lifters is malfunctioning based on data received from the raised, pin-up position and the lowered, pin-down position. A substrate processing system, further comprising executable instructions configured to: According to claim 18,
The controller is operable configured to retract the end effector of the robot from the process chamber during testing with the pin-lifter test board after placing the pin-lifter test board on the substrate-holding device. A substrate processing system, further comprising instructions. According to claim 23,
The controller is,
Place the access door to the process chamber in the open position, and
and executable instructions configured to wirelessly transmit the received data from the pin-lifter test board to a receiver mounted on the robot. According to claim 18,
wherein the controller further comprises executable instructions configured to monitor dynamic alignment of the pin-lifter test substrate after removing the pin-lifter test substrate from the process chamber based on data received from the plurality of motion sensors. Substrate processing system. According to claim 18,
The controller may further include executable instructions configured to determine, based on data received from the plurality of motion sensors, whether a tilt angle of the substrate-holding device is within specifications based on a predetermined value for the tilt angle. Including, a substrate processing system. According to claim 18,
The controller may further include executable instructions configured to cause, based on data received from the plurality of motion sensors, to determine whether the substrate pin-lifters all accelerate similarly based on a predetermined tolerance value for acceleration. Including, a substrate processing system. process chamber;
a substrate-holding device positioned within the process chamber having a plurality of substrate pin-lifters;
a robot having an end effector configured to place a substrate on the substrate-holding device;
A pin-lifter test substrate configured to be placed on the substrate-holding device by the end effector of the robot,
a plurality of motion sensors including at least one type of sensor selected from sensor types including inclinometers and accelerometers;
one or more force sensors positioned proximate to corresponding positions of the plurality of substrate pin-lifters when the pin-lifter test substrate is placed on a substrate-holding device; and
the pin-lifter test board comprising a communication device configured to transmit data received from the plurality of motion sensors and the one or more force sensors;
a memory device configured to record data received from the plurality of motion sensors and the one or more force sensors; and
a controller communicatively coupled to the substrate-holding device and the robot with the end effector, the controller having executable instructions configured to control operations of a substrate processing system associated with at least the pin-lifter test substrate, Including the controller,
The one or more force sensors are configured to determine whether there is a force making contact from the pin-lifter test substrate to the substrate-holding device.

Images